Quotes by David Hume

“Generally speaking, the errors in religion are dangerous; those in philosophy only ridiculous.”

“Reason is, and ought only to be the slave of the passions.”

“It is impossible for us to think of any thing, which we have not antecedently felt, either by our external or internal senses.”

“No man ever threw away life while it was worth keeping.”

“It is an absurdity to believe that the Deity has human passions, and one of the lowest of human passions, a restless appetite for applause”

“Explanation is where the mind rests.”

“Liberty of any kind is never lost all at once.”

“I am apt, however, to entertain a Suspicion, that the World is still too young to fix any general stable Truths in Politics, which will remain true to the latest Posterity. We have not as yet had E...”

“I began to entertain a suspicion, that no man in this age was sufficiently qualified for such an undertaking; and that whatever any one should advance on that head would, in all probability, be ref...”

“Of all sciences there is none, where first appearances are more deceitful than in politics.”

“Indulge your passion for sciencebut let your science be human, and such as may have a direct reference to action and society. Be a philosopher; but amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.”

“When anyone tells me that he saw a dead man restored to life, I immediately consider with myself whether it be more probable that this person should either deceive or be deceived or that the fact w...”

“As every inquiry which regards religion is of the utmost importance, there are two questions in particular which challenge our attention, to wit, that concerning its foundation in reason, and that ...”

“To be a philosophical Sceptic is the first and most essential step towards being a sound, believing Christian.”

“Here then we are first to consider a book, presented to us by a barbarous and ignorant people, written in an age when they were still more barbarous, and in all probability long after the facts whi...”

“How can we satisfy ourselves without going on in infinitum? And, after all, what satisfaction is there in that infinite progression? Let us remember the story of the Indian philosopher and his elep...”

“Does a man of sense run after every silly tale of hobgoblins or fairies, and canvass particularly the evidence? I never knew anyone, that examined and deliberated about nonsense who did not believe...”

“Nothing is more usual than for philosophers to encroach upon the province of grammarians; and to engage in disputes of words, while they imagine that they are handling controversies of the deepest ...”

“A man who has cured himself of all ridiculous prepossessions, and is fully, sincerely, and steadily convinced, from experience as well as philosophy, that the difference of fortune makes less diffe...”

“Be a philosopher; but, amidst all your philosophy, be still a man.”